17 February 2010

Sacred swastika

Above: A flag outside a Hindu temple

Last year my husband was in the US with some of his Indian work colleagues. They were having lunch one day when a man came up to their table and angrily addressed one of his Indian colleagues. He told him that he strongly objected to a symbol sewn onto the back of his jean jacket. It was a swastika. My husband’s colleague was perplexed but immediately removed the offending jacket. My husband then explained to him that this Hindu religious symbol is considered to be blasphemous in the West and even illegal in some countries. His colleague knew that the Nazis had misappropriated the swastika as their emblem but had no idea that it could elicit such strong offence.

Indeed this auspicious symbol of good luck is very common in India. I see it everywhere: painted on the doors and gates of houses and buildings, in temples, on statues and religious paintings, wedding invitations, vehicles and on clothing…